WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is asking the IRS commissioner nominee for his views on two key subjects prior to confirmation proceedings: the use of private contractors to collect tax debts the IRS doesn't target and problems encouraging whistleblowers to come forward on tax fraud.
"Instead of raising taxes, as the President and his supporters want, we need to do a better job of collecting taxes that are already due and owed," Grassley said. "Private contractors and whistleblowers would bring in a lot of tax revenue without raising a single dime of taxes on anyone. I'm looking forward to hearing from the IRS commissioner on these programs before voting on his nomination."
Grassley is a senior member and former chairman and ranking member of the Finance Committee, which will consider the nomination of John Koskinen as IRS commissioner. Grassley authored the 2006 improvements to the IRS whistleblower office and has been dismayed by slow progress and setbacks at the agency in encouraging whistleblowers to come forward.
In 2009, the IRS abandoned efforts to use private contractors to collect low-level tax debts that the agency doesn't collect on its own. Meanwhile, the IRS' workload has increased in some ways, tax debts remain significant, and the IRS has squandered resources on conference spending and bonuses, Grassley said.
Grassley's letter to Koskinen is available here.
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